#submitted bios

URL or Real name: mama-boo-whore-me/Phoebe

Time Zone: Australia Eastern Daylight Saving

Character You're Applying For: Thad Hewitt

Character bio:

When you think of your childhood, or just childhood in general, images of favourite toys, of LEGO, of grubby faces and sticky fingers, of Disney and Pokemon and Pixar, of bloody knees from a less than graceful dismount from your first bike that didn't have training wheels, and similar things, may spring to mind.

For Thaddeus Hewitt, things were different.

His parents, both intellectuals, university lecturers at the peak of their careers, wanted four children. One for each main academic discipline. Thad, the third child, had formal sciences (computers, mathematics, logic, statistics, and systems) chosen for him. They conditioned him for greatness in his field from the moment of conception.

His childhood was filled with flashcards, schedules, Discovery Channel, Mozart, and interviews for prestigious Manhattan schools that would “present him with the utmost possible opportunities for success”. That was one of his parents' favourite phrases. Well, that and “We just want the best for you!”

They were usually repeated to him when they found him mixing music instead of studying. His sudden affinity for techno came as a surprise to Thad, but when he found that he could make music with his computer like the music kids at school could with their fine, graceful instruments, his obsession was set alight. His Dr. Dre headphones were now permanently fixed to his ears.

Thad's life, even up until now, has been controlled by his parents. He can't recall a decision being made without their influence. Unlike his precocious siblings, Thad is introspected, thoughtful, but with a mercurial temper and a tendency to bottle things up. Socially, he has trouble, because being a Hewitt came with a long list of labels, which his parents are oblivious to. So when they find out the friends he had told them about were invented to keep them from worrying, they send him to a camp upstate for the gifted and talented.

Thad went to camp deeply resentful of his parents, but what he doesn't know is he may never see them, or anyone else, ever again.

Strengths: Thad becomes experiences great clarity and is logical under pressure. Through his education he has an understanding of explosives and pyrotechnics, which could prove useful against infected. Up close he favours blunt melee weapons, preferring to spend a little time bashing in a skull instead of relying on guns.

Weaknesses: The logic he experiences in dire situations is both a strength and a weakness. Often he will not hesitate to sacrifice the happiness (or even lives) of a few for the extended survival of the group. He finds it difficult to connect with people emotionally, and subconsciously distances himself from others. He stutters when he's nervouse. Physically, asthma and allergies hinder his endurance, and the change from computer-glued vegetable to zombie slayer is a shock to the system that takes it's toll.

Paragraph Sample:

Thad didn't really take much notice when his roommate entered the room clutching his stomach and collapsed dramatically on the bed with a groan.

"You okay, man?"

"Ugh, I think I'm coming down with something. I think it was that tuna sandwich earlier. I'm gonna get some sleep and see the nurse tomorrow."

Thad nodded, gaze shifting slightly from his computer screen. He noticed the other boy, who was at the Academy on a sports scholarship, was sweating profusely, and Thad contemplated finding a secluded spot in the expansive library to sleep rather than be trapped in a small room with a germ factory. A yawn pushed through him and he decided to take his chances.

After a few brief hours of sleep, Thad was startled out of rest by a scream somewhere down the hall. He jerked upright, a vague unsettling feeling taking hold of him. He scanned the room, rubbing his eyes in confusion when he saw his roommate gazing detachedly at him.

The boy's arms were rigid, drool tinged slightly with blood ran out of his slacken mouth. He twitched his head, the muscles in his neck straining against skin. He moaned, irate.

"Jack, can you hear me? Dude what's wrong?" He noticed the boy's fingernails were bloody, scratches marring his Clearasil commercial skin, and terror swept over his body like a wave.

In what seemed like slow motion he lunged forward, and Thad, purely out of instinct, dodged swiftly away from a gnashing mouth. His pulse thrummed rhythmically in his ears, and without registering what he was about to do he retrieved the steel baseball bat from the Jack's sports bag, shifted it slightly in his grip, and unflinchingly brought it down on his skull when he lunged at him once more.

He screams a wordless scream and hits the ground with a thud. He tries to lift his head, his skull caved in and blond hair dark with blood. He writhes and gurgles. Thad scrunches his eyes shut and brings the bat down on his head again, and again, and again, and in the corners of his vision he can see Jack's Parkway Drive poster sprayed with his own blood.

It was Olivia who stopped him. She had been watching, appraising his actions from the door, and she catches the bat in her gloved hand as he draws it over his head for another strike. She yanks it free and it clatters to the floor. His hands are shaking violently and she squeezes his shoulder in an effort to calm him. He takes fast, deep breaths until he feels light headed.

URL or Real name: blue-wings / maria luísa    Time Zone: GMT+2 Character you’re applying for: Alexa Johnson (Kaya Scodelario) 

Character bio: Growing up in a broken family wasn't a really good experience, but it helped on forming Alexa's personality and on her survival when everything she knew started to fall apart. After she saw her family be eaten up by a group of hungry Girl Scouts, she decided she wouldn't be the next and ran away from her hometown. Traveling alone, from town to town, Alexa found out about a shelter where "healthy" people were going to, looking for a place to stay, trying to find their loved ones and even searching for a cure for the disease that was turning people into flesh-hungry creatures. Even though she wasn't sure about the existence of the shelter, she decided to look for the place where she could feel safe for once in her life.

Strengths/Weaknesses: Strengths – She’s a fast runner and very practical when it's about surviving. Living in a loveless home, she learned how to not depend on others and knows how to control her emotions very well. She also knows how to use a gun. / Weaknesses – She has a hard time on trusting others and even though she spends most of her time alone, she can get into some serious trouble for believing she doesn't need anyone to survive.

Paragraph Sample:

Alexa was running as fast as she could, but apparently it wasn't fast enough. Going through abandoned cars and dead bodies, she decided to stop running. She then turned around and, using the gun she found on her dad's office, fired three times against the creatures. With headshots, the three of them fell on the ground and she was sure they were actually dead.

"Leaving that house was probably a mistake." She thought "I walked for an entire day and almost get killed. But now, there's nothing I can do about it. I should just keep going."

She started to walk calmly, looking inside of the abandoned cars, hoping she'd find one that had its keys in it and a tank full of gas. Without any luck, the only good thing she found was a small pack of candy.

URL or Real name: gemlegs/Meghan

Time Zone: EST Character you’re applying for: Keely Jackson Character bio:  Throughout her life, sharp-tongued Keely has always been known as the “tech nerd.” She never thought that her experience with computers and hacking would ever be appreciated - until pandemonium breaks out across the US and takes many aspects of technology with it. Cell phone towers are down, internet connections are spotty at best, and Keely suddenly finds that her services are needed. Which is lucky for her, because if she was left on her own she would be dead in minutes. She doesn't have the first idea how to work a gun, and most of her physical activities were done for her by proxy by her sims.   Strengths: Quick witted and clever, finding something to say has never been a problem for Keely. She is logical minded and not likely to fall to pieces in times of great stress. She is an excellent planner, and very good at seeing multiple sides of arguments. 

Weaknesses: While her computer skills have given her an edge in this new world, they've done nothing for her people skills. She isn't the person you go to if you need a shoulder to cry on, and has no time for giggly 'girl talk'. Making friends has never been her strong point, and that is now becoming an issue in a world where the uninfected need to stick together more than ever.  Paragraph Sample: The first time she saw an infected was on a Tuesday. It was a funny detail to remember, the day of the week, but for some reason it's one of the things that she can't forget. It was a Tuesday, and she was on her way to her first class of the day - English - when she spotted someone stumbling along the walkway outside through one of the wide glass windows that lined the hallway of the Academy. At first she didn't pay them much mind, it was early, and most people were still a little blurry-eyed. She wasn't the most graceful person, and before she had her morning coffee she ambled along at best. It was possible that she looked like her limbs were only loosely attached at the joints, that she moved with an unsettling mixture of fluidity and stiffness, like the person outside. 

But then she stopped, standing shock still, when she took a second glance at this person. It wasn't just the way they moved, everything seemed off about them. She couldn't see their face, but their skin was a terrible shade. Like milk that'd gone off. She looked down at her own arm, trying to tell herself that it was probably the lighting. She looked ghastly in fluorescent lights, maybe that is what was happening with this person. Yes, they were outside, but it was a gloomy day, wasn't it possible that the dim lighting could cause the odd effect that was making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up? 

She felt frozen in place, and she didn't know why. Everything felt wrong, tainted, and all she was doing was watching some student who'd been up too late studying, like a creeper or something. She wanted to turn away, to let out a little half hearted laugh at herself and hurry into the classroom. She was going to be late if she kept this up, she should just turn and walk away. But the more reasons she gave herself for leaving, the more she couldn't look away. Then she spotted a different student running down the walkway, heading in the same direction as the one that was giving her the heeby-jeebies. She didn't know why, but a part of her wanted to call out to them, to tell them to watch out, that something was wrong with the person they were rapidly nearing.

URL or Real Name: theadoptedbrewster/Kendall

Time Zone: AST

Character you're applying for: Alice Corvin (Face claim: India Eisley)

Character Bio: Alice is quite the outcast at her school and has little friends. Due to her appearance and height most don't acknowledge her, her biting personality only adding to her solitude. A former self-harmer she tends to distance herself from others but under her cold exterior is just a girl looking for someone to care about her. 

Strengths/Weakness: Good around blood and a good runner. Cunning and intelligent. Fears getting hurt by others among other things such as spiders.

Paragraph Sample: The biting cold of the now empty academy was steadily increasing as she gripped the metal bat that was clenched between her fingers. She pulled up the zipper on her leather jacket and immediately regretted it, the zipping noise cutting through the silence of the library. 

She waited, expecting to hear the moaning and baying of the undead. For a moment, there was nothing but she then heard the door creak open but there was something different about the footsteps. 

Alice tried to level her breathing as she inched closer the noise, her back against a bookshelf before she peeked around the corner.

And it wasn't one of them. It was someone like her a survivor, no there was a group of them. They held make shift weapons like her and part of her wished to go and join them but maybe she was better on her own. 

Then she saw it, the decaying mass that was shuffling in behind them as they masqueraded through the library, seemingly searching for something. The zombie inched up behind one of the girls, someone she'd seen in the hallways who had her back turned.

URL or Real name: justjasper/Jasper

Time Zone: GMT

Character you’re applying for: Malachi Jones

Character bio: Malachi grew up in Detroit, the middle of three sons to a black Haitian mother and white Irish father. He joined the army at 18, doing several tours of duty, and later training various troops and completing a college degree. At 28 he moved back to his home neighbourhood to be a community leader and teach part time. He led several community initiatives, and became a well known figure of the community. When the virus spread, inner city areas suffered badly, and were usually last to receive aid. Mal’s neighbourhood couldn’t withstand the growing unrest, and succumbed to rioting, violence and exodus.

Mal left the city with his heavily pregnant best friend Karen after his parents were infected and his brothers fled with their families to other bases, heading towards a base several states away that he thought was more strategically located than the nearest one. He and Karen had had a drunken one night stand, and after some deliberation, decided even if their parenting arrangement would be unconventional (neither wanted to have a shotgun wedding just because of the pregnancy), they wanted to go ahead.

Travelling together presented some unique risks, but Karen was as capable as he was, having served in a tour in Iraq with Mal. They were about half way through their journey when Karen was bitten during a confrontation. They both knew the dire nature of the situation they were facing, and Karen managed to deliberately induce labour less than twenty minutes after the bite. Mercifully her labour was relatively short, and she delivered a baby girl. They had no idea if the baby was infected. At Karen’s insistence, Mal shot her as soon as she began to show symptoms, saving her the ravages of the disease.

Now Mal is on his own with an infant child that may be infected with the virus, and a long way to go until either of them is safe.

Strengths/Weaknesses: Physical and combat skill, high intelligence, very even-tempered.  Reluctant to leave anyone behind if he thinks he can help them, putting himself and sometimes others at risk, a perfectionist to a fault, and although he usually has people’s best interests at heart, he does not like his authority being challenged.

Paragraph Sample: With a pistol in the front pocket of her maternity dungarees, Karen surveyed the round ahead by standing on the seat and poking through the sunroof of the SUV, peering with binoculars.

“There’s a gas station up ahead. Looks empty.”

Mal kept the pace of the vehicle steady as she lowered herself down into the seat again, bracing a hand on her huge belly.

“Probably already been raided.”

“I dunno,” she shrugged, “this is the long way round, we haven’t seen another car for a day. Maybe we’ll get lucky.”

Part of him hoped that was the case, but another part hoped it wasn’t; they hadn’t run into any real trouble on the road yet, and that was starting to worry him. It would be just typical for their luck to be so good and then dry up in a tight spot. As he watched her loading up her clip and fasting her arm bracers, he knew they’d both do everything they could to keep the odds in their favour.

URL or Real name: pinupmgg/Minnah Time Zone: Australia/Pacific Character you’re applying for: Olivia Lawrence

Character bio: Growing up, it was just Olivia and her mom. But with a father who'd left before she was born, the long ours of her mom's job left Olivia with ample time alone. Despite hopes that she'd follow in her mom's footsteps academically, Olivia was abysmal at math and science, choosing instead to spend endless hours drawing and painting large scale hyper-realistic works that earned her multiple gallery showings from age 8. As a teenager, Olivia began to expand her interests, veering into the abstract and symbolic, and the idea of wearable art. Unbeknownst to her mother, Olivia applied to the academy to pursue these newfound interests, counting on her 'prodigy' status in the world of realism.  At the academy, surrounded by her ilk, Olivia made friends and tried to shake off her gifted child stigma. In general, things were going pretty great until she'd received that phone call from her mom. The thought of zombies, while pretty awesome, made her want to stay in her room with a gun pointed at the door, listening out for any potentially scary noises. Strengths/Weaknesses: Determined, a great strategist, thinks quickly on her feet/physically unfit, judgemental, scares easily Paragraph Sample:

Olivia surveyed her room. From a defence standpoint, it was pretty great: one door and one window, both easily barricaded and observed from the centre of the room. Reaching into her backpack, she tapped the solid lump that rested on top of her essentials, and smiled. That security guard had been so easy to sneak past, she needn't have bothered planning. Whatever. Zombie apocalypse. Might as well start somewhere.

If she was honest with herself, this barricading-oneself-into-bedroom plan wasn't exactly her best. Under the circumstances, however, it was the least terrifying, and thus superior option. For about a day, maybe. Then she'd be out of supplies. Shit. She had to get her hands on everything she could and start stockpiling. That was bound to be a completely terrifying ordeal. 

The thing was, she knew where safety was. Her mom has assured her that the base she was at was completely free of the infection. She didn't know the survivors to infected ratio of the academy, but she was willing to bet it was pretty high. Smart kids, right? She sighed. It was becoming clearer and clearer to her that she owed it to her new friends to at least tell them about the base. Okay. That was a plan she could work with.

URL or Real name: tealangdons/valerie Time Zone: GMT-6:00 (US central time) Character you’re applying for: Calvin Tanner

Character bio: Back home in Nebraska, Calvin experienced severe bullying. This led him to become very shy and self-conscious, and to use his intelligence as armor to protect him from other humans. He has a hard time relating to people, and when he's angry, he can become petulant and downright childish. However, he is fiercely loyal to the people he cares about. Among those people are his mother, father, and younger sister Mia. He's desperate to get in contact with them.

Strengths/Weaknesses: Strengths- intelligent, loyal, a very fast runner. his detachment from most people allows him to kill zombies with little remorse. Weaknesses- Childish, knows how to hit people where it hurts when he's angry. He has trouble fitting in with the team. Very sensitive.

Paragraph Sample:

At first, the sight of his classmates stumbling and foaming at the mouth startled Calvin, but after a few minutes, a general numbness set in. He pushed past the infected without looking back, they had barely spoken to him when they were healthy anyway. All he could think of was getting somewhere safe, and calling his family. He raced up to his dorm room, barricaded the door with a chest of drawers, and dialed the familiar numbers on his cell phone.

The reception was spotty, but he could hear the fragmented dial tones coming through, and then a panicked voice. "Cal?"

"Mom."

"Oh my god. Are you okay? I--"

"Yeah, mom, I'm...I'm fine...Mom...hello?" The line was breaking up, taking pieces of his mother's voice with it. "Mom, talk to me!"

"Cal--honey--"

There was a click and the line went dead. Calvin hit redial.  A mechanical voice whined in his ear. "Sorry. We are unable to complete your call. For assistance, please dial--"

He hung up. Panic rose in his throat like bile, but he swallowed it down. Now was not the time to panic. He reached for his backpack and began throwing items inside. A shirt, a pair of jeans, socks and underwear. Bags of chips he'd hoarded from the cafeteria. He looked around the room. He had no weapons, nothing but his own two feet. Hopefully, they'd be able to carry him fast and far away from here.